What if Hillary Clinton is federal probe target in chief?: Susan Shelley

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Hillary Clinton acknowledges the crowd after accepting the Democratic nomination for president at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in July 28. (Photo for The Washington Post by Melina Mara)

Would you like to know what Bill Clinton discussed with Attorney General Loretta Lynch during their unscheduled secret meeting aboard her private plane on the tarmac at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix on June 27?

You’re not alone.

The American Center for Law and Justice is suing the U.S. Department of Justice for the records of that meeting— all messages between Lynch and others about the meeting, and all communications from Bill Clinton or his staff.

Four days after that airport meeting, Lynch effectively recused herself from making decisions about criminal charges in the investigation of the private email server that Hillary Clinton used as secretary of state instead of a government account. Lynch said she would accept the recommendation of the professionals on whether to bring criminal charges against anyone for mishandling classified material.

Today we know that the FBI also had an ongoing investigation into influence-peddling at the Clinton Foundation. The Wall Street Journal and other news organizations reported that FBI investigators were prevented by Lynch’s Justice Department from using “aggressive” methods to gather evidence: no grand jury, no subpoenas, no search warrants.

What happens when the attorney general loses the confidence of the public?

In 1924, the U.S. Senate opened an investigation into Attorney General Harry Daugherty for failing to prosecute criminal cases in the Warren G. Harding administration, including the Teapot Dome bribery scandal. Daugherty was forced to resign.

In 1975, President Richard Nixon’s attorney general, John Mitchell, went to prison for his role in Watergate. He was convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and perjury.

There’s nothing new about political appointees bending the arc of justice toward re-election. What’s new is WikiLeaks, the Napster of political scandal.

According to leaked emails, Assistant Attorney General Peter Kadzik got his job with the help of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. “Fantastic lawyer. Kept me out of jail,” Podesta wrote in a recommendation.

Kadzik represented Podesta in the special counsel’s investigation of President Bill Clinton for perjury and obstruction of justice. Podesta testified about his efforts to find a job at the UN for a potential witness by the name of Monica Lewinsky.

In May 2015, Kadzik emailed Podesta with a “heads up” about an upcoming hearing of the House Judiciary Committee that was likely to include questions about the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails. He sent it from his personal email account, preventing the message from ever turning up in a search of official records.

The FBI investigation into Clinton’s emails ended in July without criminal charges of mishandling classified information. Then in October, agents found thousands of Clinton emails on a computer belonging to Anthony Weiner, the husband of Clinton aide Huma Abedin. Weiner is under investigation for sending sexual text messages to a teenage girl, and Clinton is under investigation again, days before the election.

Currently both the FBI and the IRS are investigating the Clinton Foundation.

Upon taking the oath of office, the president becomes the chief law enforcement officer of the United States, in charge of the Justice Department and federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the IRS.

What happens if a person who is under federal investigation is elected to the top job in charge of those agencies?